IIIHorn said:
Narcissism running rampant.
Due to a run in with a VERY bad manager a few years ago I took a deep dive on the topic to learn as much as I could about the topic of Narcissism. So certainly not a trained expert but at least well read.
The worst part about narcissism is there appears to be no cure for somebody on that path. Only strategies to cope with it and "pretend" if you will, on how to be a normal person.
A big part of the problem is that narcissists don't recognize other people as people. They are just internal one dimensional snap shots that the narcissist can assign one of a few values. And they can change those values in a moments notice to best suit their current desire.
I know this is rambling a bit and you didn't ask for this but
So for my narcissitic boss it was amazing to see him do 180's on people from 100% good to 100% bad and then back again during regular business. He would have no memory of thinking the person was bad if he needed them to be good etc. Very bizarre to watch and deal with.
He also always had a golden child and a whipping boy. Whipping boy did something great, didn't matter 100% bad. Golden child did something stupid, didn't matter still golden. Everyone in the middle was a complete non person and their results good or bad didn't register with him in any way.
He would have regular sessions to publicly attack the whipping boy and praise the golden child. I was lucky to be off his radar for most of his tenure. He always cultivated a few people to kiss his ass and single one to take abuse.
Social media is a Godsend to the narcissist. Tons of unearned attention and a great way to build an enemy and attack it. Very much like my work experience.